I hesitated before deciding to write this new book, #4 in my women’s fiction series The Invisibles. The delay was to quiz myself on whether I could make it a mystery. I’d longed to write one since my first effort at age 12, The Prisoner of the Locked Room. Inspired by Nancy Drew books, I crafted not one girl detective, but redheaded twins. I thought I’d bested Nancy Drew by one girl. Alas, I never ventured to write another mystery until now, though I read them avidly.
The Deadly Tea came about so I could explore one of my favorite characters from The Invisibles, Book 1. Saffron Greene Shelley is arguably the most self-conflicted character in that first story of the Greene sisters. Where Elinor was confidently stubborn and judgmental, Saffron was vulnerable, messy, and daring. And she speaks to invisibles, those recently departed spirits looking for a path to their next adventure in living. Most notably, Saffron helped the spirit of 19th century Romantic Era poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Then he helped her when her sister was in danger. Then Saffron wound up marrying Shelley’s descendant, Michael Shelley.
Saffron has this gift of empathy and insight. She’s psychic in a very specific way, and I relate to her manner of speaking to people who are gone from this physical plane. I’ve lost a number of family members and friends, some at an early age. Grief became a companion for a while, more than once. I consoled myself by thinking about how life is really continuous, or I believe it to be so, with lifetime after lifetime of experience that we accumulate until we know all about love and how to be the love we week. I began to think about where my loved ones were in their journeys and how grateful I am that we traveled together for a while.
Saffron as a character represents for me the wisdom of sitting with that knowing. She’s a helper.
But I also always wanted to write a mystery. What if Saffron, who has no particular skills for it, is asked to solve the murder of her newest invisible? What if he won’t move forward until she figures it out, and he can rest easier, knowing.
It was an irresistible combination for me, my most intriguing character and a difficult puzzle. At one point, the story was even titled The Invisible Puzzle. But then, of course, the husband happened upon a page in which I described the party at which he died The Deadly Tea. When it comes to titles, the husband is (almost) always right!
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